Enchanted High Book I
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Rain Island

June attempted to move, struggled and squirmed, but she was stuck – stuck in a thick and dirty liquid that made her clothes feel heavy. She was two feet deep in quicksand, and it weighed her down, threatening to drown her into its depths.

Panic stricken, she swung her hands behind her, her fingers finding the handles of the backpack, and fumbled through it, her body trembling, her mind allowing her to become soaked with the rain. At last, she found the walkie-talkie and hurriedly spoke into it.

‘Charlie? Charlie?’

Only static replied to her.

She felt herself sink deeper into the quicksand, and the more she struggled to get out, the deeper she went in. She cried out, looking for a familiar face, Nicole, or James or Dominic, but found none was with her. She scanned the forest around her frantically, beyond the first few trees, all she saw was darkness.

She reached about, all around her, feeling for some sort of branch or vine to help her out – when she heard a word, behind all the static, coming from the walkie-talkie. She grabbed it and flung it to her ear.

‘June?’ Charlie yelled. ‘Why am I hearing rain?’

‘I’m stuck in quicksand!’ June replied. All she could hear from his outburst was static, mixed with a few other words.

‘Use ... tch!’

‘What? I can’t hear you!’

‘... the ...’ there was no hope for the signal. Moments later, she heard a constant beeping tone. And then a sound like a dead heartbeat – silence.

June’s mind raced, her heart hammering. Again she looked around frantically, feeling herself delve deeper into the quicksand. She couldn’t even duplicate herself, because the duplicates would only use her energy quicker, but it was worth a try, whether it worked or not.

She closed her eyes, concentrating, ignoring the mud that clung to the skin of her neck and of her red-black hair. A part of her was separated into another form that rose to the land, obeying her every command without question. The duplicate June reached out her hand – she grabbed it, and they both used their force together, to escape.

But it wasn’t enough; June didn’t have enough power at the moment for another duplicate, and soon, the only duplicate she had, fell to the ground and disappeared. June panicked. She yelled out into the woods, over the sound of the rain pelting and of the thunder, for help – when she suddenly remembered – the watch.

It was wrapped around her wrist; she tapped it, switching it to transportation mode, and waited for several hopeful seconds as it lit up with blue light –

Clank! The screen of the watch went black.

She groaned angrily and almost hurled it away. No, she thought, I will not give up. She thought about Audrey, who had the idea that June was safe at school, studying for her exams, aiming to ace all of them. Her stomach clenched, her eyes stung, but she didn’t cry. It only made her even more determined to find a way out.

Her chin began to submerge; she breathed faster, her mind looking for all possible solutions. Water; she realized. If she could use the rain water, collect them from all the puddles near her –

‘June!’

She froze. That voice – James.

‘James!’ she yelled, her mind lifted. ‘James! Here!’

He emerged from the darkness of the jungle, his hair and clothing damp. He ran towards her, yanking out a thick vine from the nearest tree. He tossed one end to her, yelling ‘Grab this!’

June curled her fingers around it – and she felt hundreds of tiny stabs that sent a shock through her entire hand. She ignored it, gripping harder instead. Soon, she was being lifted out of the muddy substance. With a last groan, she fell beside James on the ground, breathing violently.

He grabbed her wrists, examining her palms. ‘Thorns.’ He muttered.

June wiped the trickles of blood on her shirt and took clean steady breaths. ‘Doesn’t matter. Thank you.’

He nodded and looked up at the sky. It was covered in dark rain clouds, a lightning bolt striking every few moments. ‘I think we should go. Find somewhere safe where we can set up tent and rest for the night.’

June didn’t agree; she’d rather they found a way to get back to either Charlie or the volcano – but her watch wasn’t working and they were probably miles away from anything familiar. So she nodded and stood, picking up the backpack as she did so.

They began walking through the jungle with James leading. June wasn’t exactly sure where they were heading, James kept saying someplace safe to camp, but it looked as if the entire jungle was all green and rain and mud and thorns.

James sidestepped. ‘Watch out,’ he said, pointing at a patch of ground-clinging thorns.

June followed him around it. She stared down at the ground, while her hands found giant leaves and swayed them aside.

‘Is your watch working?’ he asked.

‘No,’ said June. ‘The walkie-talkie isn’t either. I tried to communicate to Charlie, but it just went off.’

James didn’t reply. He swished aside another giant leaf, pausing for June to get pass, before continuing again. ‘Do you think Nicole and Dominic are here too?’

‘I don’t know.’ June replied. Nicole and Dominic. Lost somewhere without the supplies. But what if they weren’t lost? What if they made it to the volcano and are close to finding the tree? Where were they?

I once got trapped in quick sand. Its actually the furthest memory of mine - beyond that, I don’t see anything of my life. I’m not even sure if I was alive before that. See, I was drowning in that thick muddy substance, and I remember how painful it was. I was sure I was on the verge of death.

And then I saw blue light. It quickly turned into navy blue fabric. Long black hair swept over my face. Somebody carried me in their warm arms. I woke up the next day to the sound of a piano being played. I saw the face of my boss for the first time.

Love from all the fur on my back,

--THUG.

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